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http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/020411aab.html
Teams: Oklahoma (12-9, 4-3) at Oklahoma State (15-7, 3-5)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 5
Tip: 12:47 p.m. CT
Site: Stillwater, Okla. (Gallagher-Iba Arena)
Radio: Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM in OKC; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa)
TV: Big 12 Network (KOCB Ch. 34 in OKC; KJRH Ch. 2 in Tulsa; ESPN Full Court)
Webcast: ESPN3.com
Series: OU leads 126-92
SATURDAY'S GAME BASICS
In a tie for third place in the Big 12, Oklahoma (12-9, 4-3) looks for its fifth straight league win when it plays at Oklahoma State (15-7, 3-5) on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. CT. OU is coming off a 73-66 home win over Baylor on Wednesday, while OSU notched a 76-70 home win over Missouri the same day to snap a three-game losing streak. Saturday’s game will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa) with Bob Barry Sr. and Mike Houck announcing. It will be televised by the Big 12 Network (KOCB Ch. 34 in OKC; KJRH Ch. 2 in Tulsa; ESPN Full Court) with Dave Armstrong and Reid Gettys calling the action.
OKLAHOMA'S PROJECTED STARTERS
F 4 Andrew Fitzgerald (6-8, 231, So., 13.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg)
G 2 Steven Pledger (6-4, 212, So., 12.4 ppg, 2.2 apg)
G 14 Carl Blair (6-2, 209, So., 7.5 ppg, 4.5 apg)
G 21 Cameron Clark (6-6, 189, Fr., 10.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg)
G 34 Cade Davis (6-5, 209, Sr., 12.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg)
OKLAHOMA STATE'S PROJECTED STARTERS
F 25 Darrell Williams (6-8, 255, Jr., 6.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg)
F 33 Marshall Moses (6-7, 255, Sr., 15.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg)
G 0 Jéan-Paul Olukemi (6-5, 215, So., 11.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg)
G 12 Keiton Page (6-4, 190, Sr., 14.0 ppg, 1.8 apg)
G 22 Markel Brown (6-3, 190, Fr., 5.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg)
PREVIEWING OKLAHOMA STATE
• Oklahoma State enters Saturday’s game with a 15-7 overall record and is tied with Kansas State and Texas Tech for ninth place in the Big 12 at 3-5. The Cowboys snapped a three-game losing streak with a 76-70 win over No. 14 Missouri on Wednesday to improve to 10-1 at home. Their only defeat at Gallagher-Iba Arena came to Texas (61-46) on Jan. 26.
• In Big 12 play, Oklahoma State is shooting .400 from the field (ranks last in the league), .264 from 3-point range (ranks last) and .729 from the free throw line (ranks sixth). Its -2.4 rebounding margin ranks ninth in conference play.
• The Cowboys give up 72.1 points per league game (fifth most) while allowing opponents to shoot .433 from the field (fourth best defensive mark) and .405 from 3-point range (conference’s worst mark).
• Senior forward Marshall Moses leads three Cowboys who score in double figures. Moses averages team highs of 15.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game while shooting a team-best .555 from the field. In Big 12 play, he averages 11.5 points (.500 shooting) and 7.8 boards.
• Junior guard Keiton Page averages 14.0 points and 1.8 assists per contest and has made a team-high 39 3-pointers (shooting .345 from long range). Page, who leads the Big 12 with his .909 free throw percentage, is averaging 22.5 points over the last two games.
• Sophomore guard/forward Jéan-Paul Olukemi averages 11.9 points per game on the season but scores a team-high 15.0 points per Big 12 contest. The junior college product leads the squad with his 132 free throw attempts on the year (shooting .765). Olukemi averaged 19.6 minutes per non-conference game but is averaging 30.4 per league outing.
• Travis Ford is in his third year as Oklahoma State’s head coach and owns an 60-30 record.
OU-OKLAHOMA STATE SERIES HISTORY
Oklahoma owns a 126-92 series advantage against Oklahoma State and has won six of the last nine meetings and nine of the last 14. The Sooners have won two of the last three years in Stillwater and three of the last five, but trail 59-42 in the series there. Since the start of the Big 12 in 1996-97, OU is 16-15 against the Cowboys and 5-9 in Stillwater. The Sooners have swept the regular season series three of the last five years. Jeff Capel is 6-4 against Oklahoma State as OU’s head coach (2-2 at Gallagher-Iba Arena).
LAST YEAR AGAINST THE COWBOYS
• Oklahoma and Oklahoma State played three times last year and OSU won twice. The Sooners won 62-57 in the first matchup in Norman before the Cowboys posted a 97-76 win in Stillwater and an 81-67 victory in the first round of the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City.
• Tommy Mason-Griffin averaged 22.0 points and 5.7 assists over the three games to lead Oklahoma. Current Sooners Cade Davis, Steven Pledger and Andrew Fitzgerald averaged 10.7, 8.0 and 0.7 points, respectively.
• In Stillwater, the Sooners played without starters Willie Warren and Tiny Gallon and still jumped out to a 21-15 lead nine minutes into the game. OSU countered with a 33-17 rally over the final 11 minutes of the first half and then made its first 10 field goal attempts of the second half to take control. James Anderson scored 31 points to lead the Cowboys and Keiton Page added 25 on 8-for-17 shooting. Mason-Griffin scored 21 of his team-high 30 points in the second half for OU. Davis went 5-for-8 from 3-point range en route to 19 points.
NOTEWORTHY
• Oklahoma holds a 126-92 series lead against Oklahoma State and has swept the regular season series three of the last five years. The Sooners are 6-4 against the Cowboys under fifth-year head coach Jeff Capel (2-2 in Stillwater).
• Starters have accounted for 287 of Oklahoma’s 305 points (94 percent) over the last four games (wins over Texas Tech, Colorado, Iowa State and Baylor). Starters have posted 16 individual double-figure scoring efforts in the four games and each of the five is averaging at least 12.5 points per outing during the stretch.
• Starters are also averaging 36.6 minutes per game during OU’s winning streak.
• A big key for OU over the last four games has been its positive assist-to-turnover ratio. The Sooners have 57 assists to 54 turnovers during the stretch. As a point of comparison, in its nine losses this year, Oklahoma has accumulated 95 assists and 133 turnovers (32 and 43 in Big 12 defeats).
• The Sooners committed more turnovers than their opponent in 10 of their first 17 games this year. During their four-game winning streak, however, the Sooners have committed fewer turnovers than each of their opponents. Foes have combined for 68 turnovers to Oklahoma’s 54, and OU has posted a 67-52 advantage in points off turnovers.
• Freshmen and sophomores have accounted for 72 percent of OU’s points this year (1,027 of 1,426) and 80 percent of its points during the four-game winning streak (245 of 305). The Sooners have one senior in Cade Davis.
• Eight of OU’s top nine scorers are in their first or second year of Division I basketball. Five of the nine are in their first year.
• Sophomore guard Steven Pledger, who turned in a career-high 38-point performance Saturday at Iowa State, has scored in double figures in 10 of OU’s 12 wins and is averaging a team-high 16.2 points in the team’s victories (compared to 7.4 in losses). He is shooting .415 from 3-point range in wins (.273 in defeats).
• Pledger’s 38 points Saturday stand as the most by a Big 12 player in conference play this year and the second most by a Big 12 player in any game (Baylor senior guard LaceDarius Dunn scored 43 against Morgan State on Jan. 4).
• After averaging 5.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in OU’s first eight games (he shot .450 from the field), freshman Cameron Clark is averaging 13.4 points (.511 shooting) and 5.4 boards over the last 13 outings (scored a game-high 25 points versus Baylor on Wednesday). Clark has played at least 40 minutes six times in the 13-game stretch (including four times in the last six games).
• In OU’s 12 wins, point guard Carl Blair has totaled 57 assists and 27 turnovers. In the team’s nine losses, Blair has 29 assists and 34 turnovers. The sophomore went 16-for-26 from the free throw line over his first 15 games, but is 28-for-37 over the last four outings (all wins).
• During the current four-game winning streak, the Sooners’ five starters are all averaging at least 12.5 points. Pledger is averaging a team-high 18.3 points during the stretch and is followed by Clark at 15.0, Davis and Blair at 13.0 and Andrew Fitzgerald at 12.5.
INDIVIDUALS UPDATE
• Sophomore forward Andrew Fitzgerald has scored at least 17 points seven times this season, including three times in OU’s seven conference games. He leads the team with his 13.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game on the year, and ranks fifth in the Big 12 with his .521 season field goal percentage. His free throw percentage (.727) is up significantly from last year (.638). Fitzgerald has shot .500 or better from the field in 14 of 21 outings on the year.
• A career .332 3-point shooter entering the year, senior guard Cade Davis is shooting a career-best .364 from behind the arc this season (ranks 13th in the Big 12) and is averaging 2.2 treys per game (ranks ninth). Going back to last year, he has made 74 treys over his last 32 games. Davis ranks eighth on OU’s career 3-point field goals list with 160 and needs seven to tie Brent Price for seventh place.
• Davis has been effective on the boards his last seven games, averaging 6.9 rebounds during the stretch (he’s led the team on the glass in six of those seven outings). Over OU’s first 13 games, Davis averaged 4.4 rebounds.
• Sophomore guard Steven Pledger has scored in double figures in each of the last four games and in five of the last six. Included was a career-high 38-point effort at Iowa State on Saturday in which he registered career highs in field goals (12), 3-point field goals (7) and free throw makes (7). Pledger scored 17 of OU’s final 21 points of the game, including the team’s first 10 in overtime.
• Freshman Cameron Clark’s top seven scoring games have come over the last 13 outings. Clark, who finished with a career-high 26 points Dec. 30 against Central Arkansas, also netted 25 versus Baylor on Wednesday, 17 against Oral Roberts, 16 at Baylor, 14 against Maryland Eastern Shore and 13 versus Gardner-Webb and Colorado. During OU’s four-game winning streak, he is averaging 15.0 points on .543 shooting to go along with 6.0 rebounds. In the team’s 12 wins, he is shooting .549 from the field and .457 from 3-point range.
• Sophomore point guard Carl Blair has rebounded nicely from a slow start to the year by averaging 9.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists over the last 13 games. In his first six games, Blair averaged 4.0 points, 0.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists. He ranks fourth in the Big 12 with his 4.5 assists per contest (second in league games only at 5.3) and has led OU in the category in 10 of the last 13 outings.
• After averaging 1.5 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting .235 from the field over his first 10 games, junior forward C.J. Washington has elevated his production over the last 10. During that span, Washington is averaging 3.7 points and 3.6 boards while shooting .636 from the floor. He’s shooting .684 from the field (13-for-19) over the last nine games. On the year, Washington leads OU in rebounds per minute (averaging 12.4 per 40 minutes; next highest on team is Tyler Neal at 8.4).
